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China’s 2017 in Photos

On the last day of 2017, Sixth Tone presents 20 photos looking back at some of the moments that shaped the past year. These images depict the year’s ups and downs, as well as the individual joys and sorrows in people’s daily lives.

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Jiang Qiulian, the mother of the murdered Jiang Ge, gives a press conference at a public hall in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan, Dec.10, 2017. Jiang Ge, a 24-year-old graduate student from eastern China’s Shandong province who was stabbed to death on the doorstep of her apartment while studying abroad last year. Yao Wei/VCG

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Lin Shengbin (center) is surrounded by reporters as he arrives at the courthouse in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Dec. 21, 2017. In June, Lin Shengbin lost his wife and three children in a house fire that the family’s nanny is accused of starting deliberately. Yang Zijian/VCG

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U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Beijing, Nov. 8, 2017. Despite his frequent harsh rhetoric about China, Trump seemed to relish the pageantry of his November state visit. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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Ushers hold umbrellas before the opening ceremony of the 19th Party Congress in Beijing, Oct. 18, 2017. Roman Pilipey/EPA/IC

6/20
Delegates raise their hands to vote during the closing ceremony of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing , Oct. 24, 2017. How Hwee Young/EPA/IC

8/20
Six days before the Spring Festival, a migrant family begins their 245-mile journey from Zhongshan, Guangdong province, to their hometown in Pingnan, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 22, 2017. Though far from the safest option, traveling by motorbike is a cheap way to avoid overcrowded trains and buses during the holiday travel rush. Liang Yingfei/Caixin/VCG

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A soldier runs to rescue villagers after an earthquake in Jiuzhaigou County, Sichuan province, Aug. 9, 2017. A magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit the area on Aug. 8, killing 25 people and injuring more than 500. Pan Zefu/IC

11/20
Spectators take photos as they watch the Comac C919, the first Chinese-built large airliner in decades, come in for landing during its maiden fight at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, May 5, 2017. Greg Baker/Reuters

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Workers take down signs of Guangming Daily from the newspaper’s building in Beijing, Dec. 9, 2017. Beijing City Council has vowed to “return a beautiful skyline” to the city by the end of the year. VCG

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Pigs ‘dive’ into a pool of water during a daily training session at a pig farm in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Aug. 17, 2017. The farm owner believes such training will make the pigs stronger. VCG

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A man carries his pet cat as he walks past cherry blossom trees on the Tongji University campus in Shanghai, April 4, 2017. Aly Song/Reuters

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Zhao, a 50-year-old shoe factory owner, in front of a house under construction, Anxin County, Hebei province, April 10, 2017. On April 1, the Chinese government announced that Hebei’s Xiongxian, Anxin, and Rongcheng counties will become an economic development zone called Xiongan New Area. Wu Huiyuan/Sixth Tone

20/20
A man holds his hands to keep himself warm at a village in Kaifeng, Henan province, Dec. 8, 2017.A programme to ban coal heating and switch to gas left households in the cold in North China. Chen Liang/Caixin/VCG